NEW YORK — Strong corporate earnings pushed up stocks across industries Tuesday, with the energy sector and small companies leading the gains.
Stocks rose from the opening bell then built on the momentum as investors sifted through mostly encouraging quarterly results. Whirlpool, AutoNation and engine-maker Cummins all rose 7 percent after reporting their results.
The surge in stocks in recent days is a turnaround from Oct. 15, when the Standard and Poor’s 500 closed just short of a “correction,” defined as a drop of 10 percent or more from a recent high. With Tuesday’s gains, the index has nearly erased all those losses.
“Here we are just two weeks later, and we’ve just about gained it back,” said Scott Wren, a stock strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors. “We think it’s still going up.”
Investors also were cheered by news that a key gauge of U.S. consumer confidence rebounded strongly in October. The Conference Board reported that its confidence index hit a seven-year high as solid job gains raised expectations for economic growth, an encouraging sign for retailers as they head into the holiday shopping season.
“We’re predicting Christmas is going to be very strong,” said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investments. “Stocks are cheap right now.”
The S&P 500 rose 23.42 points, or 1.2 percent, to 1,985.05. That puts it another strong day from it a record high.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 187.81 points, or 1.1 percent, to 17,005.75. The Nasdaq composite climbed 78.36 points, or 1.8 percent, to 4,564.29.
In other economic news, orders to U.S. companies for long-lasting manufactured goods fell for a second month in September, a government report showed. Orders have jumped around in recent months because of moves in the volatile category of aircraft orders.
